Dumbo The Flying Elephant

“Dumbo the Flying Elephant”

My friend Lenise from Kingdom Camera Rentals was kind enough to lend me her Canon 8-15 f/5.6L fisheye two summers ago. I was curious to see what all the fuss was about with the fisheye, as it seems to have an almost mystical quality about it. It seems like everywhere you look, people are posting fisheye shots of seemingly every imaginable subject; I admit that I am late to the party and, quite frankly, don’t really see what all the fuss is about. Just like HDR, there is a place for fisheye but it seems to be very overdone, which I try to stay away from.

Fisheye does seem to work best where there are not a lot of right angles and square corners in the shot. Subjects such as Dumbo, which are round, immediately appeal to the fisheye, as the distortion inherent in the lens seems to really exaggerate the visuals and make a captivating image. I really like the new “Dueling Dumbo” attraction in the New Fantasyland, which is ironic because I really don’t care for rides that spin. Dumbo is, however, within my accepted tolerance for spinning attractions.

For this particular shot of Dumbo, I got in nice and close and waited until all of the Dumbo’s had raised all the way up for the final few spins of the attraction. By positing myself in such as manner and waiting, I was able to virtually eliminate all of the Guests in the shot and leave the focus on Dumbo himself. I then massaged the photo with a bit of Adobe Photoshop, Topaz Adjust, and Lightroom to produce the final image.